


Grimm Online

by ColeTReed



Category: RWBY, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 19:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1196070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColeTReed/pseuds/ColeTReed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year has passed since the Fang Online incident, and for the leaders of the FLA Army, they are all enjoying the peace and quiet of their normal lives.  Even after his engagement to Lindsay Oum, Michael finds himself still obsessed with the world they'd left behind, and with the "Lost", players who hadn't woken up after the game had been cleared.  After Lloyd discovers one said Lost, inside the world of Grimm Online, what will this mean for Michael and his crew?  Will they return to the front lines, ready for another war to unleash itself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Savior's Return

The Cy-Fer Internet Cafe, a recently opened hotspot for the technology riddled youth, was crammed to full capacity.  The bar-styled format left a gigantic big screen television set attached to the wall, which had half the city glued to it.  One large, and well dressed Ryan Haywood, the barista and owner, was busily cleaning coffee mugs as people clamored for a better seat.

A youth, in the far back and away from the cluttered masses, was in a pulled up hoodie, sipping a cup of coffee as he fiddled away with his laptop.  Images of data, search results, and multiple server connections were visible, though only a handful of computer programmers could even fathom what he was doing.

Though as the crowd began exploding with excitement, the hooded youth turned his head and towards the screen.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Geoff Ramsey, and I am PROUD to be your live commentator for the Grimm Online Tournament of Champions!,” Geoff shouted, as his face took over the entire screen.

The youth in the back smiled to himself.  Geoff Ramsey, a survivor of the Fang Online massacre, had finally returned to his work of commentating tournaments, and looked ALIVE again.  What had once been a skeletal shape of a man, had managed to finally put on some weight, and get a fuller face.  A face which had been covered in an 80’s porn star mustache that people loved and hated equally, and had become a common face in the world of gaming celebrities.  Like most of the Front Line Army had come to realize upon returning to the reality, the world had watched their exploits nightly for YEARS, and had been the focus of a media circus.  Without a doubt, Geoff was adored wide and far.

Geoff chuckled, adjusting his wireless headset, as his face shrunk, and the screen was replaced with a combat arena.  One on end, a blonde haired cowboy girl seemed to be facing across an Asian Styled fighter, with a pair of jade-colored guns and kung-fu outfit.

“For our first round qualifying match, we have the ONE, the ONLY Yang Xiao Long, the dastardly diva of Team Goddess, facing off against THE systems administrator of Grimm Online, Mr. Lie Ren!,” Geoff shouted, as the camera zoomed in on both players.

Standing in front of the television set, a tough-looking muscled bookie was blocking the view.  “LAST CHANCE TO GET IN YOUR BETS!  AFTER THE MATCH STARTS, YOU’RE FUCKED!,  he shouted to everyone.

“Bets?,” the hooded stranger asked to himself.  

A pink haired waitress in a cyber-punk attire came to refill the youth’s cup.  “The Grimm Online Tournament has a betting system here!  If you put down some money on ONE fighter, and if they win the whole tournament, you take the whole pot and split it with everyone else who bet on that fighter!  It’s really a big deal, since all the fighters are SUPER famous.  It’s like boxing, just…  A lot more entertaining!,” she exclaimed in a bubbly expression.  

“Really?  Sounds like a good way to make money, if you’re lucky,” the male said, scratching a small amount of red stubble on his chin.

The waitress nodded.  “Absolutely!  Would you like to make a bet?  If you do, I’d DEFINITELY pick one of the goddesses, like Yang, Nora, Glenda or Blake.  They are, without a doubt, THE BEST players in Grimm Online!,” she said giddily, jumping up and down as though SHE were the one fighting.

He nodded.   “Yeah, just…  Give a minute okay?  Can I get slice of cake, and extra chocolate syrup?,” he asked.

“Coming right up!,” the waitress exclaimed, running back to the main kitchen area, and passing by Mr. Haywood.  The man smirked in the stranger’s direction, and waved pleasantly.

The youth leaned away from the crowd as he waved back, and brought out a small smartphone to his face, but hid it away from everyone else.

“Hey Lloyd, did you hear all that?   What’d your take on em’?  Run an analysis, will ya?,” the man asked.

Popping up on screen, the playful face of a cat-boy took over the portable computer.  “Okay Daddy Michael!  Scanning the Grimm Online server, and analyzing all of the tournament competitors.  Give me a minute, okay?,” he asked.

As he was leaned back in the chair, the light from the smartphone finally gave way to the youth’s identity.  Michael Jones, the self proclaimed “Savior” of the online masses by the media tabloids, was doing everything in his power to conceal his identity.  

Six months after the Fang Online massacre ended, he’d gone into physical therapy, and straight to a gym.  Taking up formal sword combat, endurance running, and weightlifting, he’d almost gotten himself in the same physical shape he’d been inside the world of Fang Online.  Furthermore, he’d grown out a thin, fuzzy read beard.  Between the physical changes and so long as he kept to the side streets, or wore some sort of disguise, nobody bothered him any.  

“I’m done!,” Lloyd exclaimed, wagging his tail back and forth on Michael’s phone.  

Michael grinned.  “Okay, your analysis?,” he asked.

Lloyd’s face was replaced with various numbers that Michael would never be able to understand, even if he spent the rest of his life dedicating to studying numbers.  “Based on my research, there is a 24.409% change that a player named Lie Ren will win the entire tournament.  Right behind him, as 20.394% is one Juane Arc, another systems administrator,” he said.

“Wow..  So I guess I’ll pick-” Michael said, silenced as an agitated cat hissed at him.  

“I’m not finished Daddy!  Hold your horses, there’s someone that’s got a 43.39% chance of winning the entire tournament!,” Lloyd shouted.

“Oh?  Who?,” Michael asked.

Lloyd pulled up an avatar of a long haired blonde.  “Yang Xiao Long!  The tournament numbers say she’s a long shot, but I think she’s hot stuff, to be honest!  Plus, she’s got the OOMPH to back it up, just like Mommy!,” he said happily.

“Excuse me, sir?,” the waitress asked, having returned back.

“Yes?!,” Michael asked, stuffing a very pissed off Lloyd back into his pocket.  

“Your bet?,” she asked.  The waitress handed him a small form, with around thirty or so names on it.  At the very bottom, he checked off “Yang Xiao Long”, and handed it back to her with a fifty dollar bill.  Just before she took off, she reviewed the form.  “Oh thank you sir, I just-”

The world went VERY quiet.  It took Michael a moment or so to “get it”, but he quickly realized the horrifying error he’d made.  

He’d written his name on the top of the form.

Michael slammed his laptop shut, and began putting it away inside his messenger bag as though he were about to run away from an oncoming nuclear blast.  Just as he turned away, he heard “it”.

“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE MICHAEL JONES, THE SAVIOR!  EVERYONE, IT’S MICHAEL JONES!,” the waitress screamed in bloody murder.

All eyes were on him, as he dashed to the front door, and exited immediately.  Not even a little ways out of the cafe, thirty or so people were in hot pursuit, holding out piece of paper and pens.

“Michael, WAIT, come back, you’re my hero, and I want your autograph!,” one boy asked, barely seven years old.

Behind him was a frat-boy, with a baseball cap turned backwards.  “DUDE, YOU, ME, AND THE FANG ONLINE SIMULATOR!  YOU’RE A FUCKING PUSHOVER, I CAN KICK YOUR ASS ANY DAY!,” he shouted, as flames of competitiveness began sparking in his eyes.

“I want to have your babies!,” the waitress from earlier screamed out, leading the pack in the hunt for him.  

Turning a corner, he hopped up on a dumpster, and parkoured over a fence, and into a completely blocked off area.  Running for his life, he left his crazy-ass fans in the dust, and began his trek to the opposite side of town.  

As he did, he briefly passed a Television store, which had the Grimm Online tournament on as well.  Not bothering to stop for long, he did managed to make out the blonde cowgirl slamming her fist in and out of that green kid’s face repeatedly with wild sets of red explosions, like some fucked up exploding human punching bag.  

“Wow.  I would NOT want to be around THAT chick, she’s insane!,” Michael shouted, keeping up the pace and blasting past everything, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

 

_

 

Fluttering her eyes open, Kara slowly removed the slenderized version of the VirtuaGear sunglasses from her face.  Since the full version of Grimm Online had come out, she’d invested in the latest and greatest gaming console.  It was less bulky, and far less dangerous than any of the other NerveGears that the Fang Online players had been using.  

“Well…  Lie wasn’t THAT tough I guess,” Kara said, stretching out her half-asleep appendages.  In a nightshirt and panties, she’d made sure she was comfortable before sitting down for the big match-up.  Like the rest of Team Goddess from the Beta, she’d been invited for the inaugural Grimm Online Tournament, to compete for a gigantic cash prize.  Money enough that she could possibly make a living out of competitive gaming, or even get sponsors.  With her next match not until the following weekend, she had PLENTY of time to do other important things.  

“BACK, GET BACK YOU FUCKING ANIMALS!  GO AWAY!,” Michael screamed from downstairs.

Kara giggled, and hopped off her bed.  She pulled on a pair of pajama pants, and threw on T-shirt.  Exiting the room, she saw EXACTLY what she’d been expecting.

Michael was standing at the door, struggling to shut it as reporters were attempting to enter the house.

“Mr. Jones, what’s your opinion on the trial for Mr. Gavin Free?!  Is it a waste of the taxpayers money since his mind is trapped inside the internet?,” one male reporter asked, as Michael pushed his face out of the door frame.

“No comment!,” Michael restored.

“Mr. Jones, are the rumors of the “Lost” really true?  Have not all of the Fang Online players returned home, and do you know if any of the FLA were a part of that?,” a female reporter asked, finding her expensive high heel shoes to meet with Michael’s foot.

“NO COMMENT!,” Michael shouted, far more angry than was probably necessary.

“Mr. Jones?  Is the rumor of your engagement to Lindsay Oum the truth?  If so, when do you think she’ll-”

Cutting off the last male reporter, Michael let the door SLAM into all of their faces, and he locked it firmly.

“GET A GODDAMN LIFE!  THIS WASN’T SOME FUCKING REALITY SHOW YOU MORONS, WE WERE AT WAR AND PEOPLE DIED!  SO FUCK ALL OF YOU!  FUCK YOU ALL TO HELL.  PRINT THAT YOU BASTARDS, AND USE A RED SIXTEEN POINT FONT FOR ALL I FUCKING CARE!,” Michael screamed, breathing in and out heavily.  Tears were beginning to form, and his body started shaking involuntarily.

Running down the staircase, Kara threw her arms around Michael, and pulled him closely into her.  “Michael, it’s okay…  It’s okay, I promise,” she said, rubbing his hair.  

They stayed like that for several minutes, until Michael finally managed to calm himself down, and begin to breath regularly.  

With a loud gulp, he pulled away and made his way towards the kitchen.  “Did Lindsay call?  She was…  She was supposed to call,” Michael said nervously, pulling open the fridge and snagging a leftover burrito.  

Kara nodded.  “Yep.  She says that her, her father, and a few other guys would be arriving at around seven o’clock.  Lie, Ray, and Juane, I think”,  she said.

“Good…  That’s…  Good,” Michael mumbled, blushing brighter than a tomato.  

Running to his side, Kara poked him in the tummy.  “Aww, you’re still so SHY.  You better get over that, Mister Man!  After all, you’re meeting your fiance for the first time in the flesh, right?,” she asked.

Michael gulped loudly.  “Y…  Yeah,” he mumbled.

She hopped up and down giddily.  “Oh, Michael I think it is just so SWEET how you two met, saved THOUSANDS of people together, and finally get to relax and just be yourselves!  I’m so excited, I think I might pop!,” Kara exclaimed, clapping her hands together.  

He chuckled nervously, shaking his head.  

“DADDY!,” screamed something from Michael’s pocket.  

Kara tilted her head, and pointed to Michael.  “Uh…  What’s that?  Some fucked up ring-tone?,” she asked.  

“Nothing!,” Michael shouted, pulling out his smartphone and running towards the staircase, dropping his burrito in the process.  “I’m gonna take a nap, would you call me if Lindsay calls?!,” he asked.

A loud slam and lock from the upstairs later, Kara shook her head.  

“What on EARTH does that boy do up there?,” Kara asked herself.

 

_

 

Michael’s room had thankfully been unpacked in his “absence”.  His quad-monitor setup , and state of the art computer were framed against the wall, and all of his furniture had finally been shoved into place, with his clothes inside their contents.

Though the room had remarkably changed in the wake of the Fang Online massacre.  For one, there was a gigantic cork-board that took up an entire portion of his bedside wall.  Pictures of Michael and his “army” buddies in real life had been pinned up with careful precision.  An image of him and Geoffrey undergoing physical therapy together, both skeletal, and both requiring oxygen tanks to breath through their noses.  Another image a few months later, with Michael in a tux, at the after-party of Carolina and Ryan’s wedding.  A picture of him and Ray in a photo booth just outside Austin, making goofy faces, and holding each other inappropriately for comedic effect.  An action shot was to the side of him, Caleb, and Caleb’s little brother playing frisbee in the park, with their German Shepard.  

Though in the heart of the dozens of photos was one image that would never change.  An in-game photo the FLA had taken on one of their excursions.  Each member of the squad was there, in full color and in the full regalia that had been their life for two long years.  

Another copy of the same photo was beside it, where half a dozen red “X”s were crossing out faces.  

“DADDY, GET ME OUT OF YOUR PANTS, I’VE GOT SOMETHING IMPORTANT!,” Lloyd screamed again.

Michael shook off the image, and went straight for his computer.  He plugged his smartphone in, and gave Lloyd complete access to his computer.  

“What’s up?  Did you find Gavin?,” Michael asked immediately.

Taking up all four screens, a distraught Lloyd appeared with his ears hanging low.  “No..  No matter where I look, I can’t find him.  I’ll keep trying though!,” he exclaimed.

Michael nodded.

After he’d shared the whereabouts of Gavin’s body to the FBI, Michael had been rather surprised to learn that Gavin’s body had died within a week of entering the game.  A program had been ran on his brain, which “uploaded” his subconscious to the internet, essentially making him immortal and undetectable.  Nobody was exactly sure what it meant or what he was capable of, but cyber-authorities had made it their highest priority to locate him.  Michael, working as an agent alongside them, counted himself among those.  

He shook of the image of Gavin from his brain, and turned back to Lloyd.  “Okay then, so what’s so important?,” Michael asked.

Lloyd looked around nervously.  “I uh…  I think I may have found a Lost!,” he whispered.

“WHAT?!,” Michael shouted.  “WHERE!?”

An image pulled up on-screen, of the fighting tournament they’d been watching previously.  A gif-image of that weird Yang chick punching Lie was on repeat.  Though a small circle was zoomed in on, and Michael saw “it” immediately.

With a broom, there was a weird, male, bull-human hybrid sweeping the arena next to Yang’s.  There was a chained collar around its neck, a hooped golden ring inside its nostril, and save for a small loincloth covering his private parts, he was completely naked.  A game master was whipping the poor creature, making it go faster.  Gigantic red wells could be seen, and blood was slowly dribbling out of it.

Though none of that was even remotely important.  

What WAS important was the face.

A face of one of the soldiers that had a red “X” on the photograph immediately to his side.  

The bull-man was one of Michael’s soldiers that had served in the FLA.  A member of a lower squad, that had been under Ray’s command.  He may have never worked directly with him before, but Michael was fully capable of recognizing the face.

He was a Lost.  For whatever reason, roughly 500 players did not wake up after the Fang Online massacre.  Not much was in common about any of them, except that they were all completely unremarkable in every way.  They hadn’t been actively featured on the boss streaming videos, and certainly weren’t anyone important.  

Though they all had families that were wanting their quick, and safe return.  

“What…  What is that?!  What on earth is..  Why is he?,” Michael asked, touching the screen.

Lloyd shook his head.  “I don’t know Daddy.  All I’ve got is the picture, and if we want to know more, I’ll have to be IN the system.  Can you take me to that place?,” he asked.

A chill went down Michael’s spine.

“T…  Take you there?,” Michael asked.

Lloyd nodded.  “Yeah!  We’ve got to go in Grimm Online!  It’s the only way I can be sure if that’s really a Lost!,” he exclaimed.

Michael’s breathing quickly again became shallow.

 


	2. A Savior's Allies

Fresh out of the shower, Kara shook her head to dry it quickly.  In a fluffy white bathrobe, she grazed around her room and picking up the few articles of trash she had left on her desk.  Throwing them away, she glanced at the digital clock on her wall.  Already nine at night, Michael’s girlfriend was over an hour late from her plane ride.  

“I hope nothing went wrong…” Kara mumbled, shaking her head.  The only thing that seemed to help Michael’s PTSD was talking with his girlfriend he’d met in Fang Online, and the work he was doing with the FBI.  Somehow, during his time in Fang Online, he’d gained god-like programming skills that allowed him to search for Gavin Free and the missing players in the information superhighway.  While his work hadn’t gotten anything about the missing people, the case against Gavin Free had gone from solid to solid as gold.  The federal government was very impressed with him, in more way than one.  Not only as a hero, but also as a valuable asset.

“DING DONG, YOU’VE GOT VIDEO E-MAIL!” Kara’s virtual headset rang loudly.  

Kara’s face crumpled up.  “Answer?” she said.  

A hologram threw up from the headset.  The image Roman Torchwicke, the currently acting CEO of Oum Enterprises was on-screen.  In a vivid white coat she recognized as a rare item in Grimm Online, he was wielding a bright red cane.  

“GREETINGS FROM THE WORLD OF GRIMM ONLINE!  I AM ROMAN TORCHWICKE, THE DEVELOPER AND ACTING CEO OF OUM ENTERPRISES WHILE OUR ILLUSTRIOUS LEADER IS OUT!” he proclaimed loudly.

Kara rolled her eyes.  The man was clearly obnoxious.  

Roman pointed his cane-gun right at the screen.  “For YOU, one of our best and brightest warriors of Grimm online, I have an AMAZING offer!” he announced.

She stopped just shy of the “stop and delete” button.

Smiling, Roman chuckled.  “For the next two weeks, we have an amazing quest to undertake!  A rogue AI has gone free in our system.  While it was originally meant to be a powerful quest monster, we’ve screwed up and “accidentally” set it free!” he said, winking as if it were a joke.  “If you can defeat this rogue character, you will be rewarded with any itemset of your choosing from our entire item directory AND a free week’s vacation to visit our corporate headquarters in the beautiful state of New York!” he proclaimed.  As his video vanished, a new image stuck on the screen.  A woman in a red hood and bright red scythe was in the middle of the forest.  Next to her was a young blonde male with a white crescent shield and sword.  Targets were stuck on their faces.  

Kara grinned.  

“New…  NEW FUCKING YORK!?  HOLY SHIT, I’VE GOT TO GET IN THERE!” she screeched.  Shucking off the bathrobe, she dressed in a split second and ran downstairs.  Passing Michael, she giggled as he was waiting by the window talking to his phone again.  She SWORE that thing talked back at times, but chose to ignore it.  

Kara grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.  “Hey Michael….  I’m uh…  I’m going to bed, so I’ll meet Lindsay in the morning if that’s okay?” she asked.  

Jumping out of his skin, Michael threw his phone into his shirt pocket.  “HOLY SHIT, DO NOT SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!” he yelled.  

“I came down the stairs VERY loudly you know!” Kara said, rolling her eyes.  

Michael shook his head.  “Whatever, go on to bed.  Lindsay called a few minutes ago and said their plane went late.  She probably won’t be here until tomorrow morning anyway,” he remarked.  

“Gotcha!  Can’t wait to meet her, I bet she’s wonderful!” Kara replied.  

With that, Kara waved goodnight to her brother and kissed him on the forehead.  Running back to her room, Kara downed the bottle of water and pulled her hair up in a bun.  “Okay, social obligations checked…  I do believe it is time for me to earn a free trip to New York and show the world that Yang Xiao Long is the BEST player in Grimm Online, PERIOD!” she shouted.  Plopping onto her bed, Kara placed her virtual glasses over her eyes.  Turning on the machine, Kara took a deep breath and let the world around her slowly turn into her virtual paradise.

 

+++++

 

In the middle of a white forest far north of Grimm Online, snow was falling gently over a large cemetery.  

A girl in a red cloak was walking down an open path.  Behind her, a blond man was shivering loudly behind her.  

“Remind me again why I signed up for this Ruby?  Seriously…  I’m going to kick Lie’s ass when we get done tonight!  All I wanted was a nice warm bed after that ten hour flight!” he announced.

“Quit whining Juane, we’ve got a job to do.  We KNOW those missing players are here, and we’re the only ones who can do anything about it,” Ruby replied, not once coming out of her hood.  

Juane huffed and folded his arms.  “Okay, yeah, but weren’t we supposed to have uber support?  Fucking Torchwicke went and put out a hit on us, calling us “rogue AI”...  Fucking prick, we’re HACKERS!  Get it right!” he announced.  

Hefting her hand out, Ruby stopped him from advancing.  “We’ve got company,” she whispered.  Pulling out from under her skirt, a large red gun quickly shifted into a gigantic scythe.  She pointed it to a nearby tree.  “COME OUT!” she ordered.

Slowly stepping out behind the tree, Yang was smirking happily.  “You know…  For quest AI, you talk like you’re human,” she said.  

Ruby stepped backward.  “Shit…” she mumbled.

Jaune shrieked like a little girl.  “HOLY CRAP, THAT’S YANG XIAO LONG!  SHE’S ONE OF THE TOP TEN PLAYERS IN THE GAME!” he exclaimed.

“RUN!” Ruby ordered.

Both of them dashed away, back in the direction they had come from.  

Unfortunately, they did not get very far.  Appearing out of the shadows, Blake fired a gun blade attached to a ribbon right at Ruby.  Juane deflected it with his shield, and Ruby turned around.  

“HIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Yang shouted, propelling herself forward with her gun-gauntlets.  Her fist came into direct contact with Ruby’s body, pummeling her into a nearby tree.

“RUBY!” Jaune shouted, still dealing with Blake as she attacked him repeatedly with a shadow clone.  

Grunting, Ruby stood up.  “So not used to this fucking battle system,” she mumbled.  

Her annoyance was short lived, however, as Yang belted right to her once more.  

“Fuck!” Ruby shouted, spinning her scythe around and belting Yang in the head with it.  As she propelled backwards, she shot her scythe’s gun compartment, sniping Yang several times in the process.  

“RUBY, I NEED HELP OVER HERE!” Jaune screamed. Still only able to defend, Blake’s speed kept him from accurately attacking.

Shutting her eyes, Ruby took a deep breathe.  “Swift like a rose…” she mumbled.  A skill seal glowed under her hood.

In a flash of red and petals, Ruby vanished.  Juane was grabbed up and the two of them reappeared at the top of a tree branch.  

Yang ran back up to Blake, and the two of them looked at each other with an irritated glance.  

“Can you seriously not handle her?  We’re talking about NEW YORK HERE!” Blake shouted.

Yang’s hair exploded in a blast of fury.  “I KNOW THAT!  YOU TIE HER UP AND I’LL PUNCH HER TILL THE LIFE BAR EXPLODES!” she shouted.  

Ruby tilted her head.  “I get the feeling that Yang would not be the kind of person I would ever want to meet in real life,” she said.

“SHUT UP YOU STUPID BITCH, NOW I’M PISSED!” Yang shouted.  

Punching thin air, volleys of blasts went into the tree.  Both struck Ruby and Juane right on the spot, and the two of them went flying in the air.  

“I’ve got them!” Blake exclaimed.  Leaping into the air, she shot two of her ribbon guns right at Ruby and Juane.  Just before they criss-crossed, half a dozen pink strikes tore them to shreds.  

“What?!” Yang exclaimed as Blake landed back next to her.  

As Ruby and Juane landed with a loud thud, a man in a green Chinese suit landed right in front of them.  In his hands were two bright green gunblades about the size of a ruler.  The man Yang had defeated in the Grimm Online tournament the day before.

“Ren?” Yang asked, tilting her head.

“LIE!  YOU SAVED ME!” Jaune said happily.

No nonsense as always, Lie turned to the two of them.  

“Go,” he ordered.

Lie snapped his fingers.  

Green shackles came out of the ground, wrapping around Yang and Blake.  Blooms of waterlilies came from the top of them.  

“SHIT SHIT SHIT!” Yang shouted, unable to access her weaponry.  Blake was much of the same.  

“DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY!  THEY’RE QUEST THINGS!” Blake yelled.

Looking up, Yang could just barely make out the “Ruby” girl.  Her hood was burning from Yang’s last attack.  Long locks of red hair was blowing out from underneath.  

 

++++++

 

Lindsay shot up and threw her virtual glasses across the hotel room, where it smashed against the wall.  

“FUCKING SHIT FACED LITTLE BITCH!  IF I SEE HER AGAIN, I’M GOING TO END HER!” Lindsay exclaimed.  

Leaning up groggily, Juane sighed as he placed his visor to the nightstand.  “Calm down…  It’s just one scrapped mission, we’ve got a lot more coming.  Besides, if we get your boyfriend on board, it might go a lot better!” he said optimistically.

From the floor, Lie popped up, brushing off his hoodie.  “Roman is making this a lot harder though.  Now that all the players are after us, any recon we do for Monty is going to be shit to none,” he remarked.  

“You really think he’s behind all this?  I mean, I know Monty doesn’t trust him, but REALLY?” Juane exclaimed.

Lindsay nodded.  “My dad is never wrong.  The second he had free time to look at Grimm Online, he KNEW it was just a clone of Fang Online.  Systems are in place that shouldn’t be there, such as player tracking and vitals recording.  Things that Gavin had in place to make sure we stayed alive during our time in the game.  It’s hinky,” she remarked.

“Quite right.  Not to mention Roman’s an ass,” Lie muttered.

Sighing, Juane flopped back on his pillow.  “I’m going to bed, I don’t want to think anymore tonight.  Don’t wake me up before ten,” he said meekly.

Lindsay nodded.  “Same here,” she said, pulling the covers over her body.  

Lie just shook his head, grabbing a laptop and turning it on immediately.  “Slackers,” he whispered.  On his screen, an undecipherable amount of text was there.  As he did, a small screen popped up, with a small animated crow flapping its wings.

“Archimedes, we’ve got a lot of work to do tonight if we’re going to crack Grimm Online’s cardinal system.  Get your bird butt to work,” Lie said.  

The bird squawked loudly, and half a dozen processes began running all at once automatically.  

“Remind me to kiss Lloyd when I meet him tomorrow,” Lie said, petting the bird-on screen that he’d created after meeting the unshackled AI.

 

++++++

 

On the top floor of the Oum office building, Roman was puffing on a long cigar.  On his computer screen, the virtual bodies of nearly five hundred players were trapped inside a large cage.  Some were being shocked by electric collars, and others had needles inside their skulls.  Others were being stabbed repeatedly, crying out painfully.  

“Cardinal, what is today’s findings?” Roman asked blankly.

On screen, a red phoenix popped up.  “67% of the human brain has been analyzed.  Pain receptors have been fully researched.  Emotional receptors are at 69%.  We have not been able to accurately determine how to generate “joy” or “happiness”, due to our current experimentation.  Mind control is at 90%, and our research shows that full control should be achievable by the end of next week,” the bird explained.

Roman rolled his eyes.  “Skip researching joy and happiness, why would we want to know how to generate that?  Military contractors aren’t going to “joy” their enemies into submission!  Put all our resources into mind control, that’s the whole point of kidnapping these people.  I mean, THAT and the ransom notes, but mostly because it’s a beautiful way to finally map out the human brain,” he explained.

“Understood sir,” Cardinal responded.

Roman took a long drink of his vodka bottle.  “How far are we from implementing our research into the Grimm Online players?” he asked.  

“Three weeks,” Cardinal replied.

Grinning, Roman toasted his computer.  “Thatta girl!” he exclaimed.

Just outside the office door, Patrick was covering his mouth and attempting to sneak away quietly.

 

 


	3. A Savior's Call to Arms

Michael had been pacing for what seemed an entire night.  
Actually, it’d been an entire night, the coffee-fueled caffeine buzz on his laptop seemed to loosen his perspective on reality.

  
Though as he stood by the front door, waiting for Lindsay and her friends to arrive, he couldn’t help but be nervous.

  
"Lloyd, can you hack into the national traffic database and see where her taxi is at?" Michael asked, checking his watch for the seventeenth time.

  
The digital creature, after overtaking Michael’s computer screen groaned loudly.

  
"Daddy, you just asked ten minutes ago! She’ll be here any minutes now, stop worrying! Mama is gonna run away!" Lloyd ordered.

Michael’s forehead twitched.

  
"LLOYD, NOW," he bellowed loudly.

  
As the two began bickering back and forth, the gentle ring of the doorbell quieted their arguing.

  
Lloyd grinned. “Mama’s here!” he said excitedly.

  
Like a bullet out of the third season of the anime this story is based off of, Michael was off and found himself at the door almost immediately.

Though as he touched the handle, a cold sweat began pouring off his forehead. 

  
"I’m actually going to meet her. For.. For real! My girlfriend, my… My real-life, totally not a dating sim girlfriend! Lindsay…" Michael thought to himself. 

  
The doorbell rang once more, while Michael was lost in his world of self-doubt and worry.

  
Rolling his eyes, Lloyd signed. “Activating home security, manual door override active,” the boy said.

  
Unlocked, the door soon flung itself open and Michael found himself falling forward.

  
"AH… AH!" Michael yelled as he fell through the door and landed squarely into Lindsay. The two fell to the floor, with Michael’s head rested firmly on a spot that should be rested firmly on.

  
"See, if I did that to my friend Weiss, she’s slap me," Jaune remarked, turning to Lie.

  
As Michael looked up from Lindsay’s cleavage, he spotted her two childhood friends she’d been writing about. 

  
Ren Lie, the genius behind the development of the software responsible for putting the human mind inside of a computer server, and one of the two people that got the Fang Online players their freedom. He was a nerd among nerds, and potentially one of Michael's biggest fans.

  
Then there was the blonde guy, Jaune. He’d apparently been the guy Ray had tried to solo the Christmas boss for, and was one of sixteen players who died in Fang Online, only to be resurrected when the game was cleared. Apparently his salvation had been in the fact that his game data belonged to Ren, who had protective codes installed on his machine. In fact, most everyone directly related to Gavin’s company or somehow knew the lad seemed to have been saved. A fact which angered MANY people into furthering the lawsuits to Gavin’s company.

  
"Sweetie… Can we hold off on this for just a LITTLE while?" Lindsay asked, giggling playfully.

  
Michael leapt off Lindsay, quickly blushing. “Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” he exclaimed nervously.

  
After an embarrassing set of introductions, Michael quickly invited his guests into the house. The four of them moved into the living area, where Michael’s laptop and tablet were actively running. Lloyd popped up on the laptop, grinning from ear to ear. “MAMA!” he shouted, holding his hands out for a large hug.

  
Lindsay bent down and pecked a kiss on the screen as she reached him. “Hi Lloyd, how’s my little baby doing? Has Michael been keeping you comfortable” she asked warmly.

  
"Hi Mama!" Lloyd replied immediately, returning the kiss on the other end of the monitor. "Yeah, Daddy’s been real nice! He made me a WHOLE world all to myself," he explained.

  
Jaune jumped. “WHOA! Is that the AI kid you were talking about? The one that Gavin made? I uh… We sure we can trust it?” he answered.

  
Ren chuckled. “Jaune, relax. AIs aren’t bad by nature. They’re free intelligence, just like you and I. How they act and behave is up to them personally and not based on their programmer,” he answered, waving to Lloyd as he sat on the couch himself. “Nice to meet you again Lloyd. I never really have had a change to thank you enough for opening up your network hubs for us. So thanks, if it wasn’t for you, none of the players would have been freed before the game imploded on itself,” he said.

Lloyd bowed. “No problem Uncle Renny! Anything to help!” he answered.  
Once all four had been settled, and after Michael served them a mixture of coffee and tea, there was a momentary silence before Lindsay began digging into her leather messenger bag. 

  
"Sorry our reunion had to be such a sausage fest sweetie, but there’s an important matter that needs to be addressed. So let me get to the point so the smooches can start as soon as possible. Have you ever heard of a game called Grimm Online? It’s a game my father’s company created during the Fang Online incident," Lindsay explained.

  
Michael nodded. “Yeah, it’s like one of the biggest online games right now. The hype around it was bigger than Fang Online since they came up with the lower-neuron glasses. Hell, it’s leading the virtual industry right now. I hear it’s even got a sequel planned revolving around guns or some shit?” he replied.

  
Ren nodded. “That’s correct. Grimm Online is the highest grossing game in the last decade. Not even the revamped Halo franchise from back in the early 2000’s have been able to compare. Which is exactly why we’ve come to you,” he explained.

Michael put down his cup of coffee. 

  
"Excuse me?" he replied.

  
Lindsay sighed. “Michael, you know all about the missing players still stuck inside Fang Online’s servers right? Well, that’s not EXACTLY true,” she explained. With a grim expression, she began typing into the laptop she’d been fiddling with since arriving. “Between Ren and Monty, we’ve uncovered a lot of data on them. The first big bit being that they’re no longer inside the Fang Online services. In fact, the servers have been completely wiped out. Not a bit of data exists on them anymore,” she said.

  
Michael’s eyes went wide. “Excuse me? That’s… That can’t be right! Then where else could they-“

  
Stopping himself, Michael quickly remembered the photographs Lloyd had gotten a few days earlier. The ones displaying some of his friends and fellow army members. 

  
Jaune nodded. “Yeah. So like, then Ren got REALLY curious and hacked into the servers that Oum Industries were using to regulate the servers. That's when things got REALLY interesting!” he explained.

  
Turning around her laptop, Lindsay showed a screen to Michael. It showed a portrait of several animal-like humans being kept in cages. They were shackled, being prodded with weapons, and one particularly nasty looking demon dog was biting into their flesh. Despite being a virtual example, it looked incredibly painful.

  
Though none of that was important to Michael. What WAS important was the face of the one being bitten by the demon dog. Without a doubt, it was one of the assault members that had been under his and Geoff’s team.  
"How?" Michael asked immediately.

  
Ren shut his eyes. “We have a hypothesis. Not enough evidence to conclude it perfectly, but for now, it’s all we have,” he said, picking up his teacup and sipping it softly. “Somewhere during the Fang Online tragedy, somebody transferred the minds of these players into another server. How or why this was done is beyond my knowledge. Gavin’s log-out protocol would still be in effect, but the players would be in another world,” he explained.

  
Taking over, Lindsay nodded. “They’re in Grimm Online, somewhere. This picture was taken from Ren’s hack-job, and he was able to take the shot before their security system kicked him out. Ever since then, we haven’t been able to get back in,” she answered.

  
Michael shot up off the couch. “THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! TAKE THIS TO THE COPS!” he exclaimed.

  
Sighing, Ren shook his head. “Impossible,” he said.

  
Lindsay and Jaune turned away while Michael’s jaw proceeded to drop by a mile.

  
"The fact of the matter is, Michael, is that people still view me as responsible for the Fang Online incident because of my helmet. Any evidence I produced would be shot out of court in less than a second. I’m still stalked by press, and no less than 94 lawsuits are still pending in my name even after I was cleared in criminal court. Oh, and I actually brought this to Oum Industries’ attention. I was escorted out of the building and asked not to return," Ren explained.

  
Slumping back down on the couch, Michael’s head went straight to Lindsay.

"Monty’s your DAD. Can’t you just ask him to-"

  
Lindsay shook her head before Michael could finish his sentence.

  
"My father is still working with the FBI, world governments, united nations and the online security team. They’re tracking Gavin Free, trying to dig up the last bits of evidence that they can, AND work to prevent legislation from cracking down on virtual MMOs. I can’t even get him on the phone, let alone have enough time to explain all this to him," she explained.  
"Then what do we do?!" Michael shouted.

  
Ren smiled for the first time that afternoon.

  
"Simple. You join our group, The Future Foundation, and we free them ourselves," Ren said matter of factly.

  
Michael tilted his head slightly. “Excuse me?” he asked.

  
Jaune stood up and began fumbling through his pockets. “The Uh… The Future Foundation is what we call ourselves. Lindsay, myself, Ren, and our AI Qrow started it as a way to fight virtual online crime. Since the world is moving to a place where the cops can’t keep up anymore, and since we’re the only ones who really knows what virtual crime is like?  Well, it just made sense,” he answered.  Finally, he retrieved what looked like a laminated driver’s license.  ”Mogar” was written in simple font, with a Future Foundation logo to the side, and his portrait cropped into a square.

  
"Qrow?" Michael asked, bypassing the point entirely as he took his membership card.

  
Ren chuckled. “Not as advanced as Cardinal by any means, but Qrow is the love-child between Monty and myself. It lacks the human emotion of Cardinal, but has twice the data mining capabilities since its mind is set to act like a bird’s,” he replied.

  
Lindsay slammed her fist on the table. “You missed the important part! Like, YOU KNOW, saving our friends!” she screeched.

  
Jumping up, both Michael and Ren let out a small squawk of fear.

  
She huffed. “You boys and your fucking artificial programming toys,” Lindsay mumbled angrily. 

  
Lindsay pulled out a pair of sunglasses-like items. It was the new gear for full diving into the virtual world. “Here’s our plan Michael. The fact of the matter is that people in Oum Industries know that we’re after them. So someone high up started this fucking quest for the main players to try and PK us. They even went as far as to change our character data to read as NPC Quest characters. So no matter how many times we tried to convince them to stop, they thought it was a trick in the quest,” she explained.

  
Michael took the glasses and watched Lindsay carefully. “Why not just ban you guys instead?” he asked.

  
Ren raised his hand up. “I have a friend on the inside who’s supporting us. They made us immortal sub-admin character types. It was what they were going to use as a mod system in Fang Online, but it never got deleted after Gavin’s meddling. Meaning that we can die and act like normal characters, but are unbannable by the admins. My friend assures me that the higher ups have no idea about that class,” he explained.

  
Michael began flipping the headgear in his hands. “So… You want me to help you look into things?” he asked.

  
Lindsay smirked. “Oh… Not exactly. The fact of the matter is that you’re one of the most popular gamers in the world right now. People around the globe watched you save the lives of thousands of people in one final battle with Gavin. So, if you were to show up in Grimm Online and take part in this quest, but HELP us? It’d cause quite a stir. After all, the Savior of Fang Online helping a group of NPCs? Someone like the great Michael Jones wouldn’t do something like that for nothing,” she said.

  
"Seriously? I’m the celebrity angle?  I’m a fucking pretty boy distraction!?" Michael demanded to know.

  
Jaune, Ren and Lindsay shirked.

  
"Sorry! It’s just… We need someone to distract other players from us! Someone who can actually fight off entire waves of elite players! It took three of us just to RUN AWAY from Yang Xio Long and Blake Belladonna," Lindsay admitted.

  
"Oh yeah… I heard of that Yang woman. Heard she’s high ranked and going to kick but at the National competition," Michael replied.

  
Ren huffed and glanced away at the mention of Yang’s name.

  
Lindsay put her hand on Michael’s leg. “Needless to say, we need you. Hell, the players trapped in that game needs you! The online world needs it Savior!” she said warmly. Quickly, she then laid a kiss on Michael’s lips. Their first real intimate contact in the real world. Not with virtual lips, but with real flesh and blood. 

  
"I need you," Lindsay asked.

  
Michael laughed to himself. “That and you’ll kick my ass if I don’t?” he asked.

  
She nodded. “Damn straight,” Lindsay remarked.

  
Slowly, Michael shoved the VR glasses on his head. 

  
"Count me in then!" Michael remarked, ignoring the pit of ice that was balling painfully in his stomach. He ignored the twitch in his fingers, as though a blade were once more in his hands. Most importantly, he ignored the thought of actually going back into a virtual world. Back into the cage he’d once found himself trapped in.

  
Fears that were momentarily interrupted as the upstairs bedroom door slammed open against the wall of the hallway. Gigantic, stomping feet ran down the stairs and immediately ran to the fridge.

  
Michael stood up and made his way after the quickly moving blur.

  
"Oh, Kara, this is my fiance Lindsay and our friends! You want to—"

  
The fridge door slammed as hard as it could, and Michael was greeted with a set of baggy, sleep-reddened eyes. His sister was nothing short but terrifying.

  
"WHOA, what happened to you? Did you like not sleep or anything?" Michael asked, staggering away from Kara.

  
Kara crushed the bottle of water in her hands, causing it to spurt everywhere.

  
"Those bastards… I stayed up ALL night trying to find them. I don’t care if it takes me all week, I’m going to FIND THEM AND BREAK THEIR GODDAMN LEGS!" she screeched.

  
Pushing past Michael, Kara bounded up the staircase in a fit of uncontrollable rage. 

  
Jaune and Lindsay scooted backwards, hiding behind Ren.

  
"Nice… Nice sister Michael…" Lindsay muttered quietly under her breath.

  
Ren, however, smiled.

  
"I like her. Reminds of someone I might have known in a prior life," Ren said, unable to keep his eyes off Kara as she waltzed upstairs.

+

In Best Buy, a static charge in the back room set off the surge protectors. All power, save for one computer, was completely blacked out.

  
ON screen, the Grimm Online user profiling system was being hacked at incredibly fast speeds. 0s and 1s were dancing on the desktop until finally the command screen for the Grimm Servers were at the computer’s command.

<User Creation: if/Mogar;then/alariascript.vrmmo.char.data/modify/freescript.vrmmo.char.data/fuz.exe  
if/Mogar;then/sunscript.frmmo.char.model.data/modify/semblance.vrmmo.char.data/fuz.exe  
if/Mogar;then/addlcharacter.mrmmo.char.data/add/Lloyd.vrmmo.toolfae.data/create.exe  
if/Mogar;then/skillscript.vrmmo.char.data/replace/MogarFOnline.data/replace.exe  
if/Mogar;then/statswap.data/replace>

Then, just as quickly as the power outage had occurred, it was over. The computer blanked out, and it was as if nothing ever happened.

  
  


 

 


	4. A Savior's Start

Grimm Online was heralded as a “sanctuary for those to those disturbed in Fang Online”.  As such, any and all participants of Fang Online could import their characters and attempt to come to terms with what happened to them.  Several therapy specialists utilized the feature.

Though for Michael, it meant that he didnt have to spend hours on character creation.  He could import his character and get right into the action.  So after entering his original data, putting on his new VR glasses, and taking one VERY deep breath, the game started.

He appeared inside a booming town.  Concrete roads, lampposts, and a modern styling with a fantasy flair.  ”From Dust Till Dawn” was right in front of him.

"AH!" shrieked Lindsay.

Michael spun around.  Ruby, Lindsay’s character, looked rather distraught.  Actually, all of his friend’s online personas looked agitated.

"What?!  What’s wrong?!" Michael demanded to know.

Ruby was covering her mouth.  ”Uh…  Michael?  I uh….  I don’t think your Fang Online character imported…  Correctly…” she said quietly.

Jaune was snickering to the side, hiding his laughter behind his lunar shield.

"Huh?" Michael asked.  

Looking down, things were NOT as they should be.  Instead of his leather armor, he was wearing some kind of thin white shirt that was opened to reveal a set of abs.  His sword was gone, and there was some sort of staff thing hanging alongside his back.  Pulling up the in-game mirror screen, the once gruff expression and curly red hair was now replaced with flowy blond hair, and kind blue eyes.  

Oh, and he had a tail.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" Michael screeched.

Ren glanced over Michael carefully. “Faunus class.  Looks like you’ve got a staff type weapon that doubles as a firearm.  A mmeleeclass”

Michael’s face went pale.  ”MELEE?!  I NEVER FUCKING LEVELED THAT!” he shouted.

Pulling open his character screen, Michael immediately navigated to his character screen.

_Michael Jones_

_Lv 100/255_

_HP:  30,450/30,450_

_DP:  1000/1000_

_STR:  255_

_DEF:  255_

_MAG:  255_

_MAG DEF:  255_

_SPD:  255_

Most of the stats were all the same.  Mid-ranged stats and skills.  He’d lost a great deal of the progress he’d made in Fang Online.  Though he was the same level as Ruby and the rest of her friends.  In fact, he’d been put on the same level, almost intentionally.

This was NOT what the import feature had advertised.

"My work, it’s…  Gone," Michael asked.

Appearing in a spark of light, Lloyd landed on Michael’s head.

"Daddy!  Bad news, we’re-…  oh, I guess you already saw," Lloyd said with a pouty face.

The team glanced up to Lloyd.  The kid was no longer a cat-boy.  Instead, he’d earned a set of wolf ears and a bushy tail.  ”Level 1” was hovering above his ID.

Lloyd was on the verge of tears.  ”I lost all my admin access!  I can’t do anything but hack the system now, and their computer is…  Is… BETTER THAN ME!” he said, sobbing woefully on Michael’s shoulder.

Ruby picked him up from Michael and hugged him quietly.  ”Shhh.  Baby, it’s okay…  You’re the best computer program EVER.  You just gotta learn more!  Okay?” she asked, reassuring the artificial intelligence.  

Already fast on accessing his database, Ren had a scrunched up face.  ”Always the same.  The security system here is far too advanced,” he mumbled angrily.

Lloyd jumped to the ground and shook his head.  ”Nuh-Uh.  It’s a cardinal system like me!  This is just Fang Online, painted over,” he explained.

The group turned to Lloyd.

"Are you sure about that?" Ren asked, clearly dumbfounded.

Lloyd nodded.  ”Yeah.  I helped Daddy Free make Fang Online.  This is all my work, just…   Copied and pasted,” he answered.  Lloyd pulled up his in-game screen, and began to access many outside networks.  He then spun the screen to Ren’s face.  There was a large screen of code.

"Motherfucker…" Ren mumbled, taking Lloyd’s screen and adding the code to his own.  "It IS Fang Online.  The code is lackluster to say the least.  Without a doubt, this is some class b programmer reverse engineering a video game.  Impressive considering he worked with the cardinal system, but he definitely left a lot of the original programming.  With this, I can…  Yeah…  I should be able to use what Monty and I used when infiltrating Fang Online.  This should speed things up, but I’ll need a lot of uninterrupted time in this game.  Though I’m sad to say THAT time is about to be up," he said, typing away on his screen.

"THERE YOU FUCKERS ARE!" Yang screamed.

A chill ran down Michael’s spine.

Their group turned around, and a cowgirl-styled blonde warrior was coming their way.

"Crap, it’s her again…  Yang the Golden Flame.  One of the best players in the game, and someone who got invited to hunt us," Ruby whispered.

The woman stopped right in front of them.  ”There is NO way I’m letting you assholes get away this time!” Yang announced.  She began to get into a combat stance when her eyes flashed to Michael.

"A player?  Why are you-" she asked, quietly silencing herself as she read the username.  Yang’s eyes flared a deep red.  "You think that’s fucking FUNNY?" she yelled.

Michael tilted his head.  ”Uh…  What?” he asked curiously.

The blonde woman with the huge golden gauntlets stepped forward, grabbing Michael by the scruff of his neck.  ”What, you think it’s COOL to name yourself that?!  Do you have ANY idea how goddamn disrespectful that is?!  To name yourself after HIM!?  That man saved THOUSANDS of lives, and I’m not going to let you slime through his name!” she exclaimed.

Michael shook his head.

"Listen, YANG, back the fuck off NOW," Michael demanded.

Yang reared back, engaged her weapon and plowed her gauntlet into Michael’s face with a knockback explosion.  Flying backwards, Michael landed into to the side of the building.  3/4s of his health was gone in an instant, and he began falling to the ground quickly.

"MICHAEL!" Ruby screamed.  Dashing off in a flurry of petals, Ruby caught Michael before he hit the ground.

Jaune and Ren created a defensive barrier in front of Ruby and Michael.  

"You okay back there?" Jaune asked, as he began chanting a healing spell.  Green sparkles wrapped around Michael, restoring his health slowly.

Yang was taken aback.  ”Wait…  You’re with those NPCS?!” she yelled.

Fully healed, Michael stood up on his own.

“ _Guys, is that…  Holy shit, it’s JONES!” a regular player exclaimed._

_"The guy who kicked Free’s ass?  Holy shit!" another character asked._

_"Sure that’s really Jones?"_  someone else asked from a drink stand.

Ruby smiled.  ”It’s working…  Go on Michael, do more…  FAMOUS stuff,” she said, pushing him forward and past Juane and Ren.

Lloyd closed his eyes and began to transmit data to Michael.

"I’m uploading hacked combat data to you.  You should be able to use your weapon like your sword.  But remember, it’s ALSO A GUN!" Lloyd announced.

"Got it!" Michael announced, puling his scarlet red staff off his back and spinning it around in his head.  

"YOU MONSTER!" Yang screamed, dashing forward from the propulsion of her gauntlet guns.  

Lloyd’s program went active, and Michael felt his body move into action.  His staff spun in front of him, creating a barrier of light that Yang’s attack bounced off of.  She flipped backwards, landing on her feet.

Grunting loudly, Yang’s gauntlet’s reloaded.  Punching into the air, she let loose several volleys of bright yellow light.  

Michael’s barrier skill ended, much to his own horror.  The blasts nearly impacted his skin, but were blocked by his staff as he swung it like a sword.  The bolt of light fired back at Yang, striking her in the chest and throwing her backwards.

There was a mild smile on Michael’s face.  His virtual muscles were starting to get back into the swing of things.  Michael’s sword was gone, but now he had a much longer and more durable weapon in its place.  The clothes he’d been granted gave him much more movability that he didn’t know existed.  His tail seemed to grant an odd addition to balance that he didn’t have in Fang Online.  Lloyd was definitely helping out with some sort of combat program, but he was definitely more in control.

Backflipping from the ground, Yang was up on her feet easily.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"  Yang screeched.

Her body was glowing a faint yellow, and her eyes were burning.

Michael smirked.  ”You want a fight bitch?  You got one!” he screamed.

Dashing forward, Michael and his staff began pummeling at Yang.  She held up her gauntlets to defend, taking reduced damage with each strike.  Michael kept going, utilizing his own physical skills as well, such as kicking and firing the gun end of his staff.

Yang didn’t bother to retaliate the attacks.  With each hit, the woman’s glow grew.  From a timid light into full blown flames eminating from her hair.

Sensing danger, Michael kicked off Yang’s body and back to a respectable distance away.  He watched the woman carefully.

Yang was smiling.

"Did you know about the Berserk skill?  It was a prize at the Christmas tournament that only the top fighter class could win.  It took a MONTH to max out, but I finally did.  Now with each hit I take, I store up energy.  Then I can do several things with it.  For you though, I think I’m going to max out STR and AGL," she said eagerly.

She was off like a bullet.  Michael barely registered it as she was inches away from his face.  Her gun gauntlet exploded in his face, slamming him into the ground hard enough to make the in-game pixels crash.

"MICHAEL!" Ruby yelled.

Propelling herself forward, Ruby used her gun-scythe to fly towards Yang and Michael.

She is, however, stopped instantly by a wall of ice appearing out of thin air.  Bouncing off of it, Ruby is met with a small woman in a black and white combat skirt.  Her hair was snow white, and he was holding a thin rapier.  

"Weiss," Ruby mumbled bitterly.  

The ice woman smirked. “That’s right.  Weiss Schnee, the #1 ranked professional gamer in Europe.  Bow down peasants,” she said in a snarky accent.

Distracted momentarily, Michael almost missed as another one of Yang’s suped up fists smacking his face.  The ability was degrading with each second, so Michael could stop it with his hand.  

"WEISS, I’LL GET THIS ASSHOLE, YOU GET THE QUEST CHARACTERS.  WE SPLIT THE PRIZE, GOT IT?" she yelled angrily.  

Weiss nodded.  ”Got it!” she announced.  Leaping up, Weiss pointed her weapon towards Ruby and shot herself forward on a small glyph.

"JAUNE!" Ruby screamed.

A sphere of light appeared around Ruby, as Weiss bounced off it and landing somewhere near Yang.

Meanwhile, Yang found herself kicked off with Michael’s thin shoe.  Her power waned at last, just as Michael rejoined Ruby and Jaune.  Only 300 of his massive health remained.

"Fucking hell, she’s strong," Michael said, standing behind Jaune as the paladin class began to heal him.

Jaune moved forward, shield and sword at the ready as he erected another barrier around their crew.  ”Uh…  I can’t fight her, and neither can you guys apparently.  Now might be a good time to back off.  We didn’t give Michael enough time to learn how to play,” he announced.

From the background, Ren shook his head.  ”Not yet, I’m gathering critical data!  I need them kept busy a bit longer!  ” he announced.

Michael turned to his child.  ”Any ideas Lloyd?” he asked.

+

Yang turned to Weiss with her ever determined expression.  ”They don’t know how to play this online game right.  Simple tactics will win us this fight and take care of monkey-boy.  Still got that maxed out Haste skill?” she asked.

 ”Do I?” she asked calmly.  Pointing her rapier to the ground, a bullet of orange-gold hit between them, creating a glyph of clock gears.  Both women began glowing a mild orange.

"GO!" Weiss commanded.

Hoisting her rapier up, Weiss shot off like a figure skater to her destination.

Yang blew her gauntlet attack backwards, throwing her forward.

As they got closer and closer, the small wolf-boy of the party ran forward.  He held his hands out, muttering some sort of spell.

Monkey-boy smiled.  ”My name is MICHAEL FUCKING JONES, AND I’M THE GUY WHO KILLED GAVIN FREE!  MESS WITH THESE GUYS, AND YOU MESS WITH ME!” he proclaimed.

Yang and Weiss reached the team simultaneously, and as their attack struck the wolf child, each and every member of the enemy team shattered into a thousand pieces of glass, vanishing into thin air.

"DRAT!" Weiss proclaimed, swiping her weapon away.

Yang glanced up to the audience that had accumulated around them.  All of them were whispering quietly, but one word kept being repeated over and over again.

"Savior"

Yang gripped her hand tightly.  ”Assholes…  I’ll end all of you.  How dare you use my brother’s name in vain.  You’re all deleted, that’s for damn sure,” she exclaimed.

+

Lloyd’s teleportation hadn’t taken them very far.  Just inside a nearby inn, their presence was undetectable fro the moment while in the safety of the nearest room they could find.  

Ren was fuming.  ”Useless, all of it.  The data was corrupted,” he said sulkingly.

Lloyd sighed.  ”I tried to keep the connection, but I couldn’t.  Sorry,” he offered.

Looking out the window to the main street below, Michael shook his head.  ”They were good.  I’ve got to get used to this combat style.  Is there anywhere we can go and not be bothered?” he asked.

Ruby shook her head.  ”No.  They can track us anywhere as quest items.  So…  Anywhere we took you to train would be a nightmare waiting, she explained.

Shrugging, Michael sighed.  ”Okay, then I’ll just have to get creative on my own.  Lloyd, can you take me somewhere to practice?  Give me a night alone, and I can be there better for you, I promise,” he explained.

Ruby, Ren, and Jaune exchanged worried looks.

"We don’t have forever," Ren cautioned.

Michael nodded.  ”I get that.  Just give me a night and I can master this game, I promise.  Lloyd will help me.  Until I can actually beat blondie or ice queen, I can’t be any help to you guys.  I just got thrown into this, let me have  goddamn moment to catch my breath, okay?” he asked.

The three seemed to all exchange a similar glance.  

"Understood," Ren finally answered.


End file.
